If you’ve clicked this post to see what I think of the
meatballs from Ali Meatball in comparison to IKEA meatballs, you’re going to be
disappointed. I’ve never been to IKEA and I’ve never tried those famed
meatballs. So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I’ll simply be
comparing this stalls meatball, to what a good meatball should be.
So what should a good meatball be? We’ll get to that in a
minute or two.
Ali Meatball, a stall in Jalan Muhibah, to their own credit,
is doing their part to quench the appetite of those who haven’t had the
pleasure of trying meatballs in West Malaysia. Meatballs are apparently all the
rage there since IKEA came in. For the most part, its location though remote
has garnered a buzz for quite a while now. After being covered by Utusan Borneo
and Utusan Sarawak, I just had to see what it was all about.
Their stall is located by a house which belongs to Abang
Zhai, the owner of Ali Meatball. Yes, I’m as surprised as you are that his name
wasn’t Ali. Zhai was inspired to open a meatball stall from seeing how popular
it can be when done right like in West Malaysia. His background in the Food and
Beverage industry was also what gave him that courage to do what he’s doing
now.
If you guessed it, I tried the meatballs. Different
variations of it to be honest, so let’s get cracking! You could try their set
menu of Nacho Cheese, Meatballs and a drink for RM15 and Cheese Meatballs for
RM14.
If anything, for what you pay, there are quite a number of
balls. It’s just too bad that they are as “meh” as they look. The balls were
not browned from a skillet which explains the dull consistent grey colour as
they were deep fried. I don’t have a big problem with meatballs swimming in
sauce, but the black pepper sauce that the balls were swimming in lacked any
real flavour. What it did taste like was a combination of bottled black pepper
sauce, sugar and some added parsley herbs.
The meatballs that I tasted were bland and overworked. It’s
a rule of thumb that meatballs need to be seasoned. Period. That’s all I had to
say about that, while the meatballs suffered from being overworked.
What I mean by overworked is when meat is mixed excessively
to the point where it becomes pasty and tough. Instead, when mixed properly,
the balls should have visible pieces of ground meat while not crumbling apart
when put under the pressure of a fork.
Abang Zhai mentioned that he contracts someone to provide
the meatballs for him, which is quite a shame. It is a shame because products
that are not home-made will definitely not be given that special attention
to detail to provide the product that you most desire for you and your patrons.
The Cheese Meatballs additionally were similar to the Black
Pepper meatballs, with the added bonus of cheese. In terms of the cheese, it is
quite clear from its stringiness that Mozzarella was used but from the taste of
it, it seems that it was all that was used.
Commercial Mozzarella can be bland which is why most recipes call for a mixture of a sharper sometimes sour cheese when mixed with Mozzarella. It is done so to cut through the richness of meatballs. Even if there was a mixture here, I can’t say that I have tasted it.
Aside from the meatballs, Nacho Cheese named Nacho’s Nachos
served at RM7 is also part of what they offer here. Put simply, it is a plate
of Nachos lying under what looks like bolognaise sauce topped with cheese. The
sauce lacked any real flavour other than its sweetness while once again, the
cheese proved to do nothing other than be stringy.
If anything, I wouldn’t say I’m dissatisfied. Rather, I’d
use the word disappointed. I’m disappointed as this would have been a good
opportunity for dishes like these to be more accessible to the Kuching public.
It must be said that the staff is a group of friendly and honest guys but it’s a shame
that with a little more work and attention to detail, this shop would be
buzzing more than it already is right now. I don’t know when I’ll come back but
I hope that when I do, I hope to find a better value for my Ringgit.
If ya’ll reading have recommendations for places to try
remedy my meatball cravings, do leave a comment in the blog!
Ali Meatball is opened according to their Facebook Page at 2:00pm to 8:30pm.
Their location can be found below.
Their location can be found below.
i rather liked those amazeballs tho hahah
ReplyDeleteHi Mina!
DeleteDid you mean these balls? https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amazeballs/1460355084217214
If you're referring to the balls I just reviewed, to each his/her own I suppose. Hehe.
Hilary